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I guess having government shoot you in the foot is better than having it shoot you in the head?
I question the authenticity of some that say they're against population growth. Same folks that say "fastest growing city in the US, next Silicon Valley" or "we'll pass Chicago one day soon. Just watch."
Austin is notably missing a major technology center that Houston and Dallas actually have. That’s probably the one exception. But Microsoft is known to sway away from trends so that probably has a lot to do with it
Austin is notably missing a major technology center that Houston and Dallas actually have. That’s probably the one exception. But Microsoft is known to sway away from trends so that probably has a lot to do with it
One explanation could be that Microsoft simply thinks it's more efficient with their business model to operate in major MSAs.
It makes sense in a way, because:
*It's easier/cheaper to coordinate business travel in locations with airport hubs.
*They're in closer proximity to their current & future Fortune 500 clients (not a ton of companies use Mac, but they definitely use Windows).
*The talent pool, while not as specialized, is larger overall (their bread & butter are legacy operating systems, so maybe having specialized talent isn't as critical).
If it's kinda odd to have all these branches of global companies in Austin without Austin being a major Airport Hub. I Do understand that there are 2 international airports in Houston and A ginormous hub in DFW, but Austin's airport is still insignificant. Especially compared to similar peers like Denver, Tampa, Charlotte, SD. I won't mention Orlando as Disney is a huge factor.
Maybe they can build a shared major airport between Austin and SA.
If it's kinda odd to have all these branches of global companies in Austin without Austin being a major Airport Hub. I Do understand that there are 2 international airports in Houston and A ginormous hub in DFW, but Austin's airport is still insignificant. Especially compared to similar peers like Denver, Tampa, Charlotte, SD. I won't mention Orlando as Disney is a huge factor.
Maybe they can build a shared major airport between Austin and SA.
Looks like Austin has direct flights to almost every major city. Layovers aren't really a big deal anyway.
Almost all major and semi-major cities are connected. Austin is nothing similar to Houston and DFW in terms of connected airports. In Houston you can fly to all inhabitable continents (Africa pending due to Covid now though), in DFW you can fly to all except Africa. While Austin had a few weekly flights to London, Houston and DFW had like 5 daily each.
Austin doesn't stand out at all for being well connected even compared to other cities in its size range. Even Cleveland puts it to shame.
You're right about layovers not being a big deal though. That's definitely worked in Austin's favor recently. But for a company like Microsoft with so many clients, sometimes it helps to be able to have so many daily flights to where you can catch a cross country fight in the morning and return in the evening.
If it's kinda odd to have all these branches of global companies in Austin without Austin being a major Airport Hub. I Do understand that there are 2 international airports in Houston and A ginormous hub in DFW, but Austin's airport is still insignificant. Especially compared to similar peers like Denver, Tampa, Charlotte, SD. I won't mention Orlando as Disney is a huge factor.
Maybe they can build a shared major airport between Austin and SA.
Austin has direct flights to pretty much every major city domestically (and many options to SJC and SFO in particular)... Airport size is something companies consider but it's not enough of a disadvantage to make up for the talent advantage that Austin has over other cities in the south.
I'd rather have fewer flight options than have to drive halfway to San Antonio, that sounds awful.
Looks like Austin has direct flights to almost every major city. Layovers aren't really a big deal anyway.
Thanks for the info. I didn't know about the Heathrow flight, I thought it was the standard Mexico and Canada deal, nothing outside of North America. But Heathrow is a big start.
Quote:
Originally Posted by whereiend
Austin has direct flights to pretty much every major city domestically (and many options to SJC and SFO in particular)... Airport size is something companies consider but it's not enough of a disadvantage to make up for the talent advantage that Austin has over other cities in the south.
I'd rather have fewer flight options than have to drive halfway to San Antonio, that sounds awful.
Austin to San Antonio is not that far.
Halfway to San Antonio is even less so.
Going from a lot of places in the big cities to their airports takes more time than driving to somewhere halfway to San Antonio.
Uptown Houston to IAH will probably take you 45mins to an hour. It's not going to take you that long from downtown SA or Downtown Austin to a midway point in between the two
If it's kinda odd to have all these branches of global companies in Austin without Austin being a major Airport Hub. I Do understand that there are 2 international airports in Houston and A ginormous hub in DFW, but Austin's airport is still insignificant. Especially compared to similar peers like Denver, Tampa, Charlotte, SD. I won't mention Orlando as Disney is a huge factor.
Maybe they can build a shared major airport between Austin and SA.
The reason Houston and DFW were able to become major airline hubs is because they were so much bigger for so much longer time. Even when Austin did establish those Europe flights, they were nothing compared to the multiple daily flights IAH and DFW had to Europe in the same cities.
Imo, Texas airports really made a statement when they got into Oceania. Quantas started the daily flight to Dallas. Then Air New Zealand starts daily flights to Houston. Then United started daily flights to Sydney from Houston, and now American appears to be starting a daily flight from Dallas to Auckland. Oceania was previously seen as a risky but intriguing market to tap into, and all 3 routes have been successful, and I don't see why the Dallas-Auckland flight won't be.
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